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aubreynhamilton.bsky.social

@aubreynhamilton.bsky.social

1.1K followers 742 following 295 posts

Former librarian, perpetual reader. Reviewer at Happiness Is a Book and Kevin's Corner. Occasional columnist at Mystery Readers Journal. "For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream." Vincent van Gogh

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aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A nicely plotted mystery by journalist & author Eleanor Blake that has been resurrected by Coachwhip Publications. A family arriving in a New England coastal town for the summer has the long-timers in a snit. How it ends in murder is complicated. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Death Down East by Eleanor Blake

Death Down East by U. S. author Eleanor Blake (1899-1952) was first published by Putnam in 1940; reissued by Penguin in 1945, and reprinted again by Coachwhip in 2022. It’s a highly readable story …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Edward Stratemeyer created a way to produce children's books quickly, hiring writers to turn the books out like so many widgets. Canadian author Leslie McFarlane wrote the first 20 Hardy Boys books. His memoir about the series is fascinating. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Ghost of the Hardy Boys by Leslie McFarlane

This week’s forgotten book is essential for anyone who has ever read one of the Hardy Boys books by Franklin W. Dixon. My thanks to David C. Tucker, for drawing my attention to it. I found it a mes…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Edith Caroline Rivett mostly used series characters but she did write a couple of stand-alones later on. Perhaps she intended to create series around these new characters. The Burning Question takes place in rural Derbyshire on Guy Fawkes Night. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Burning Question by Carol Carnac

The Burning Question (Collins, 1957) by Carol Carnac is a rare non-series book from Edith Caroline Rivett (1894-1958) who usually wrote about Inspector Ryvet or Inspector Rivers under the Carnac na…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A private investigator in 1950s London is not all that common, so when I heard about Scottish Mark Raeburn I had to find a couple of his cases. He featured in six books written by author and historian John Dick Scott. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/sapphires-on...

happinessisabook.com

Sapphires on Wednesday by Malcolm Gair

Malcolm Gair was the pseudonym of Scottish author and historian John Dick Scott (1917-1980). He became Assistant Principal at the Ministry of Aircraft Production in London during the war, and …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Balletomanes will pick up on the in-jokes in this first book about a manic ballet troupe and their first season in London, which includes murder. Critics loved it and it became a UK bestseller. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 #FFB happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: A Bullet in the Ballet by Caryl Brahms and S. J. Simon

Caryl Brahms was the name used by Doris Caroline Abrahams (1901-1982), an English critic, novelist, and journalist specializing in the theatre and ballet. She also wrote film, radio and t…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

An early academic mystery written by the man who operated England's double agent program during World War II. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: An Oxford Tragedy by J. C. Masterman

Sir John Cecil Masterman, OBE (1891-1977) was a versatile gentleman. He was a Modern History don at Christ Church, Oxford during the 1920s, while he also played cricket, tennis, and&…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

So many London-based mysteries use fog as part of the plot that I am beginning to think fog crime fiction is a thing. Here a killer incorporates fog into his alibi, which might not have been wise. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Blueprint for Murder by Roger Bax

Paul Winterton (1908–2001) was an English journalist and crime novelist better known under the pseudonym Andrew Garve. He also published under the name Paul Somers and his first books were att…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I ran across a Parker novel I didn't remember reading and settled in for a quick visit with the professional thief. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/the-handle-b...

happinessisabook.com

The Handle by Richard Stark

I found The Handle (Pocket Books, 1966) by Richard Stark, i.e., Donald Westlake, on my Kindle a couple of weeks ago. I did not remember reading it, or perhaps my reading was too long ago to recall,…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

An early Julian Symons based on a real literary forgery investigation. Bibliographic standards were nonexistent in the 1800s and forging first editions was amazingly easy. A young Bland demonstrates his ability before he joined the police. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 #FFB happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Bland Beginning by Julian Symons

Cruising through eBay last fall, always a dangerous pastime, I found a group of books in the short-lived Unicorn Mystery Book Club. The subscription service published four crime fiction novels in a…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Arthur G. Crook is one of my favorite fictional detectives. In this wartime adventure he rescues a timid lady who unexpectedly inherits a fortune. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 #FFB happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Mouse Who Wouldn’t Play Ball by Anthony Gilbert

The 12th case of Arthur G. Crook is the intriguingly named The Mouse Who Wouldn’t Play Ball (Collins, 1943), a wartime story with some classic characters. The mouse in question is Miss Dorothea Cap…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Harry Kemelman's debut novel won an Edgar for Best First Mystery in 1965. Anyone looking for a new series to binge should take a look at this one. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/friday-the-r...

happinessisabook.com

Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman

Harry Kemelman (1908-1996) was a schoolteacher before World War II, worked in multiple government positions during the war and launched a freelance writing career afterwards. He began publishing in…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Two Australian sisters wrote as Margot Neville, producing plays, short stories, and novels. They wrote 20+ books about Detective Inspector Grogan and Detective Sergeant Manning of the Sydney police force. Murder of a Nymph is their fourth case. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder of a Nymph by Margot Neville

The works of Australian sisters Margot Goyder (1896–1975) and Anne Neville Goyder Joske (1887–1966) have been on my reading list for awhile. Writing under the name Margot Neville, the pair wrote sh…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I am reading a lot of political thrillers these days, I am not sure why they hit the reading spot just now. The works of Ross Thomas come up a lot in discussions of the genre and I decided I had been far too lax in learning more about his writing. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/the-mordida-...

happinessisabook.com

The Mordida Man by Ross Thomas

I discovered Mike Lawson’s political thriller series about Congressional fixer Joe DeMarco a few years ago and have followed it ever since. His work is often compared to that of Ross Thomas (1926-1…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Written by a U.S. academic whose specialty was Flaubert, this first mystery sends a crippled widower to France to investigate a manufacturing source problem as Europe prepares for war. Winner of a Dodd, Mead Red Badge Mystery Award. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: A Matter of Iodine by David Keith

Francis Steegmuller (1906–1994) was an American author of biographies, fiction, travel, and short articles for periodicals. He also translated a number of Gustave Flaubert’s writings, for which he …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The Mark Treasure books by David Williams can be hard to find. I was pleased to discover this title about a cigar factory in the West Indies. Murder of course is prominent. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/treasure-up-...

happinessisabook.com

Treasure Up in Smoke by David Williams

I am enamored of the Mark Treasure series by David Williams (1926-2003), 17 mysteries published between 1976 and 1993. Mark Treasure is Vice-Chairman of Grenwood Phipps & Co., merchant bankers …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Christopher St John Sprigg was killed in action during the Spanish Civil War. He left an impressive literary output including 7 mysteries. The first is about a hotel full of eccentrics, murder, blackmail, and other unsavory activities. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 #FFB happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Crime in Kensington by Christopher St John Sprigg

Christopher St John Sprigg (1907-1937) was a versatile English writer of poetry, plays, short stories, detective novels, and aeronautics textbooks. In his mid-20s he became fascinated by Marxism an…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The first book in a long writing career by Yorkshire cop Peter N. Walker. Based on the Great Train Robbery. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/carnaby-and-...

happinessisabook.com

Carnaby and the Hijackers by Peter N. Walker

Peter Norman Walker (1936-2017) was a lifelong resident of North Yorkshire. He served as a police officer in the North Riding force for 30 years, upon which he based his crime fiction writing. In a…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Call for articles, essays, & reviews! The next issue of Mystery Readers Journal will focus on Cross-Genre Mysteries, which don't fit neatly into one category. Think the In Death series by J. D. Robb or the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Deadline 20 August. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 mysteryreaders.org

mysteryreaders.org

Mystery Readers International – Publisher of Mystery Readers Journal

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

In addition to her many other talents, Dorothy L. Sayers was a book reviewer. Her reviews were collected about 10 years ago with a thoughtful analysis of her approach by Martin Edwards. Essential reference work for any student of Golden Age crime. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/taking-detec...

happinessisabook.com

Taking Detective Stories Seriously: The Collected Crime Reviews of Dorothy L. Sayers

Among her many talents Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) was a crime fiction critic, reading and evaluating books weekly for the Sunday Times from 1933 into 1935. Seeking to make Sayers’ insights and o…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

A geopolitical thriller from a completely unexpected source. Bernard Cornwell is a fabulous storyteller. Here, he turned his attention to the IRA, Middle East terrorists, Irish supporters in Boston, and $5 million in gold. I couldn't put it down. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/scoundrel-by...

happinessisabook.com

Scoundrel by Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell is familiar to me as a fine writer of historical adventure. I have read nearly all of his Saxon Chronicles set from 866 A.D. to 937 A. D. His stories about the Napoleonic Wars are …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Professional thief Bernard Bruin has escaped prison, vowing vengeance on Inspector Higgins who put him behind bars. Higgins is determined to follow Bruin to find his cache of plunder while staying out of Bruin's lethal reach. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Body Behind the Bar by Cecil Freeman Gregg

British author Cecil Freeman Gregg (1898-1960) was a chartered secretary and accountant like fellow Golden Age author and contemporary Richard Henry Sampson (1896-1973) who wrote under the name Ric…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The Spoils of Time by June Thomson is the 15th Inspector Jack Finch and Sergeant Tom Boyce book. It has a completely unexpected plot twist near the end of a puzzling case. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/the-spoils-o...

happinessisabook.com

The Spoils of Time by June Thomson

June Thomson (1930-2022) was an English author who wrote 20 traditional detective mysteries about Inspector Jack Finch and Sergeant Tom Boyce, then focused on writing Sherlock Holmes adventures, pr…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

What do you do when the heir to your comfortable home returns after a long absence & plans to change everything about it? The denizens at Templedean Place had ample opportunity to consider that question in Accident by Design by ECR Lorac. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 #FFB happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Accident by Design by E. C. R. Lorac

Accident by Design (Collins, 1950) by E. C. R. Lorac is the 34th appearance of Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald. Even with more than 45 books to her credit by this time, Lorac (real n…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Pauline Glen Winslow's mysteries feature Merle Capricorn, born into a family of vaudeville artists and raised to be a magician like his famous father. Somewhere along the way he left the fold and joined the London police but his family ties remain. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/copper-gold-...

happinessisabook.com

Copper Gold by Pauline Glen Winslow

The backs of dust jackets on older books are often filled with blurbs about the book in hand or the author’s earlier works but sometimes, especially the dust jackets of first editions or debut work…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Dominic Mary Paul McGuire was an Australian author and diplomat. During the 1930s he wrote more than a dozen mysteries. Reviewers in UK newspapers of the time praised his books; I was entertained to see that one reviewer loved the element I disliked. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Threepence to Marble Arch by Paul McGuire

Dominic Mary Paul McGuire (1903–1978) was an Australian author, Catholic activist, and diplomat, writing mostly poetry and nonfiction and for a few years crime fiction. His 16 mysteries were all pu…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Peter Turnbull's social worker experience shines in this title from his Division P series set in a rundown part of Glasgow. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/and-did-murd...

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And Did Murder Him by Peter Turnbull

Peter Turnbull used his certificate in social work in Glasgow for years before returning to Yorkshire, where he was born, to take up full-time writing. His crime fiction series includes one set in …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

A surprisingly modern serial killer story from 1933. Someone is murdering London's constables & Scotland Yard can't stop him. Nicholas Revel, a polished man-about-town, is taking a suspicious interest in the attempts to find the killer. A good read! #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: X v. REX by Philip Macdonald

Philip Macdonald (1900-1980) was a British writer of more than 30 novels, dozens of short stories, and radio, television, and film scripts, nearly all of them in the crime fiction genre. He wrote u…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Donald Harstad wrote 6 police procedurals with Sheriff's Deputy Carl Houseman in rural Iowa, where criminals often took advantage of the isolation and lack of oversight. The Big Thaw might be my favorite of the series. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/the-big-thaw...

happinessisabook.com

The Big Thaw by Donald Harstad

Someone was looking for an older series to binge and I started listing my favorites. This one surfaced the second time I dredged my memory. These rural police procedurals are excellent and I do not…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

This week's forgotten book is another reprint from American Mystery Classics. Written by the prolific Mignon G. Eberhart, an isolated house, creaking floors, fog, and murder: this one is for the gothic fans. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: While the Patient Slept by Mignon G. Eberhart

Mignon G. Eberhart (1899-1996) was a creative author of mysteries and romantic suspense. Her long career began in 1929 with a mystery featuring Sarah/Sally Keate, a nurse in New York, who was Eberh…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

The first book by espionage author Palma Harcourt and her husband under the name John Penn is about a retired Army major who is startled to see an announcement of his impending death in the newspaper. Inspector David Taylor of Scotland Yard is on the case. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/notice-of-de...

happinessisabook.com

Notice of Death by John Penn

John Penn is a joint pseudonym of Palma Harcourt (1917 – 1999) when she wrote with husband Jack H. Trotman. Harcourt wrote espionage thrillers under her own name. Under the Pen…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

A pivotal book in the Perry Mason series, released as the country moved out of economic depression and into war. It's the last appearance of a 1930s style cop, who was replaced by someone more modern. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

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Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Case of the Baited Hook by Erle Stanley Gardner

The Case of the Baited Hook (Morrow, 1940) is the last appearance of Sergeant Holcomb in the Perry Mason series by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889–1970). Holcomb is the typical bullying cop of the …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

I loved this story of corporate espionage by Michael Gilbert. It was short-listed for the Gold Dagger in 1968. Set in post-war London it follows an Army veteran into an unexpected corporate career. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/the-dust-and...

happinessisabook.com

The Dust and the Heat by Michael Gilbert

The Dust and the Heat is one of Michael Gilbert’s stand-alone novels published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1967 and published by Harper in 1968 as Overdrive in the U.S. It was shortlisted for the …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

The latest in one of my favorite series is published this week. Dez Limerick is an excellent addition to the thriller pantheon. Far from a loner, he collects friends like a dog collects fleas. Strong writing, entertaining plots. Recommended! 📚⚡️ 📚💙 kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2026/05/aubr...

kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Storm Warning: A Dez Limerick Thriller by James Byrne

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

The debut of Inspector Pointer involves a murder victim with no identity papers, a shifty hotel manager, and a killer that almost escapes detection. The first of 2 dozen books is a complicated story with a surprise ending. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Eames-Erskine Case by A. Fielding / Dorothy Fielding

Some two dozen mysteries were published under the name Archibald Fielding or A. Fielding or A. E. Fielding between 1924 and 1944. They are attributed to Dorothy Feilding (sic) about whom little is …

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

One of the later Inspector Littlejohn titles. This time Bellairs takes his crime-solving hero to France, where a small rural village has big secrets. This series has become one of my fallbacks when I need something good to read. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/murder-in-hi...

happinessisabook.com

Murder in High Provence by George Bellairs

Murder in High Provence (John Giffords, 1957) by George Bellairs, the 27th case of Inspector Thomas Littlejohn, opens with a visit to the Littlejohn home by the Minister of Commerce, Spencer Lovell…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

This late Sir Henry Merrivale case combines golf, theatre, and serial killers in a convoluted but entertaining story. Isaac Anderson of The New York Times called it one of the best mysteries of 1946. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: My Late Wives by Carter Dickson

One of the later Sir Henry Merrivale mysteries by Carter Dickson, My Late Wives (Morrow Mystery, 1946; Heinemann, 1947) starts in 1934 when a serial killer known under various names meets and marri…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

An unexpectedly creepy story about a rural hospital, the night nursing supervisor, and the staff she terrorized. It was just a matter of time before someone did something about her. Dedicated to Patricia Highsmith, whom I suspect would approve. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/angel-withou...

happinessisabook.com

Angel Without Mercy by Anthea Cohen

Anthea Cohen was the pseudonym of Doris Simpson (1913-2006), a UK author who worked for twenty-five years as a nurse in hospitals and as a private nurse. She has written about medicine and hospital…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

In this week's forgotten book Detective Tommy Rankin of the Philadelphia Homicide Department has what seemed to be a simple murder case on his hands but turned out to be anything but. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: One Murdered, Two Dead by Milton Propper

Milton Morris Propper (1906-1962) was an American writer of early police procedurals, publishing 14 novels between 1929 and 1943, all with the same series character Tommy Rankin, a detective i…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

A Mother's Day mystery from the Gregor Demarkian series. Full of quirky characters and convoluted plots. Father Tibor is among my favorite fictional people. happinessisabook.com/murder-super... 📚⚡️ 📚💙

happinessisabook.com

Murder Superior by Jane Haddam

Jane Haddam was the pen name for Orania Papazoglou (1951-2019), a college professor, magazine editor, and full-time author. Her first mystery about Patience Campbell McKenna, a romance novelist who…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Begun by Dorothy Sayers in 1936 and abandoned by 1938, Thrones, Dominations, which describes the early days of the Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane marriage, was eventually completed by Jill Paton Walsh. Reactions are mixed but Joyce Carol Oates liked it. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh

Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957) is anything but forgotten but the focus of mystery readers is on her full-length novels and the collections of short stories, where Mr. Montague Egg, one of my favo…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

An early mystery from former jockey and award-winning crime fiction author Dick Francis. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/for-kicks-by...

happinessisabook.com

For Kicks by Dick Francis

For Kicks (Michael Joseph, 1965; Harper & Row, 1965) is an early stand-alone from former steeplechase jockey turned author Dick Francis (1920-2010) who wrote nearly 50 books and won multiple aw…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

A tailor as detective? Why Horace B. Treadgold, senior partner of Bowl, Treadgold, & Flack, an exclusive clothing firm in New York, was visiting a fishing camp in Canada is unknown but he helped solve a murder or two while he was there. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Dead Man Manor by Valentine Williams

Valentine George Williams (1883-1946) was a British journalist and author. His father was G. Douglas Williams, the chief editor of Reuters News Agency, giving Valentine exposure to writing, journal…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

This traditional mystery series has been recommended to me by more than one knowledgeable crime fiction reader and I finally looked up the first book. It is indeed a very good traditional mystery. It won the John Creasey New Blood Dagger in 1988. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/deaths-brigh...

happinessisabook.com

Death’s Bright Angel by Janet Neel

Death’s Bright Angel by Janet Neel (Constable, 1988), the first of seven books about Detective Chief Inspector John McLeish and Francesca Wilson, a civil servant in the Department of Trade and Indu…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Thomas Kindon turned out an eerie tale of a foggy moor and murder in a well-written and often funny story. It was among the winners of Methuen's detective story contest. Not sure how to find out just who Kindon actually was, copyright records? #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder in the Moor by Thomas Kindon

Murder in the Moor by Thomas Kindon (Methuen, 1929; E.P. Dutton, 1929) is the only known mystery by Kindon, who himself is an enigma. The manuscript was entered in Methuen’s Prize Competition for D…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Carolyn Gold Heilbrun was an accomplished academic who hid her fiction writing behind a pseudonym as so many other scholars did before her. Her Kate Fansler books are replete with sound plots, literary references, wit, and original characters. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/the-james-jo...

happinessisabook.com

The James Joyce Murder by Amanda Cross

Why do we not talk about the Kate Fansler mysteries these days? Contemporary readers are missing out on a wonderful character, sound plots, and witty, literate writing. These books are positive gem…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

I met Francesco Paola at Left Coast Crime last month and was intrigued by the description of his debut novel Left on Rancho. It's a revealing look at the legal marijuana industry in California. Fascinating read. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2026/04/aubr...

kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Left on Rancho: A Novel by Francesco Paola

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

This week's forgotten book is one of Brian Flynn's Anthony Bathurst mysteries, reprinted by Dean Street Press. A blackmailer, the accused killer, a hanging judge, and a jaw-dropping plot twist. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Padded Door by Brian Flynn

Brian Flynn (1885-1958) is another of those forgotten authors from the first part of the 20th century whose work has been resurrected after diligent effort on the part of a few people. It doesn’t h…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Anthony Oliver was an actor, writer, antiques dealer, and an expert on Staffordshire potter. His first mystery combines his interests into a bit of a character study and a bit of a mystery. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/the-pew-grou...

happinessisabook.com

The Pew Group by Anthony Oliver

Anthony Oliver (1922-1995) was born in Wales. He served in the RAF during World War II and made his acting debut in 1964 at the Q Theatre. He appeared in film, on stage, and on television. He becam…

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

On Kevin's Corner today, where I am every Monday. Talking about David Swinson's newest police procedural. I loved his Frank Marr books. This one moves the action to rural NY. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2026/04/aubr...

kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: From the Dust: A Novel by David Swinson

aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Pearl Foley was a largely forgotten Canadian author who wrote during the early 1900s. Her 3rd book is about a young woman with obscure origins, the Narragansett Native Americans, and a frosted piece of glass. #FFB 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

happinessisabook.com

Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Octagon Crystal by Pearl Foley

I occasionally search for Canadian mystery writers during the Golden Age and so far, Frank L. Packard (1877–1942) and Pearl Foley (1888-1953) are the only two names I have found. Foley doesn’t seem…